


Forgotten

by stayingindoors



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Gen, Hurt Donatello, Hurt Michelangelo, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 11:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2108112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stayingindoors/pseuds/stayingindoors
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donnie and Mikey are captured. As Shredder's prisoners they struggle to survive. After a long time of searching, Raph and Leo finally rescue their little brothers, but something isn't right...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Alright boys! We need to find April! Mikey and Don: you search the East side of the city while Raph and I search the West side. When you're done meet us back here," Leo said in the best leader voice he could muster. "Stay safe and leave your shell cells on at all times." With those words, the two groups parted, one to the left, one to the right.  
"Where to first bro?" Mikey asked, probably a little too enthusiastically to be on a mission to rescue his friend from possible life threatening danger.  
Donnie thought for a moment. "How about we check around some of the warehouses on the dock first?"  
"Sure!"  
"Why is he always so happy?" Donnie thought to himself. "Eh... I guess it's just another one of those unexplainable things in life." The genius watched Mikey sprint ahead joyfully. Shaking the random thoughts from his head, Donnie picked up the pace and pulled up beside his brother.  
Soon enough the two teens caught sight of the giant warehouses piled at the edge of the harbor.  
Donnie crouched down and whispered to Mikey, "We need to do this strategically so that would mean we need to start with the one nearest us and spread out from there. Got it?   
Don't forget to alert me of anything suspicious."  
"You sound just like Leo," came the answering whine that Donnie took as agreement to his plan. Moving as one, the turtles silently crept down to the back of the first wooden structure.  
The turtles smashed a low lying window and entered the building with caution. Quiet as snakes, the two amphibious teens searched the warehouse but, excluding a few empty crates, the storage area admitted no one and nothing. After only a few minutes, the boys decided to move on to the next building.  
When they reached the entrance, Mikey broke the lock with his nunchaku. He pulled the door open, barely an inch, and slipped inside with Don hot on his heels. Without a word, the ninja slunk down the hallway. Not long after, the boys heard the roar of a large crowd in the distance.  
"Humans!" they thought instantly. Donnie leaned over to Mikey and whispered in his ear slit, “Let’s go back a bit. I’m going to call Raph and Leo for reinforcements.”  
Mikey nodded and they walked to the entrance.  
“You keep watch,” Donnie said as he pressed buttons on his shell cell.   
Five minutes later and Leo nor Raph had answered their phones.  
Donnie groaned and looked down. “Those two,” he said and sighed.  
Mikey held up a placating hand. “It’s okay. Let’s just go in there ourselves. We can take them.”  
Donnie looked doubtful. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”  
“Of course I do!” Mikey said, completely confident.  
“Well.” Donnie paused. “I guess that’s okay.”  
Mikey grinned and swung an arm across his brother’s shoulder. “Stick with me bro and we’ll be fine.”  
Donnie and Mikey crept back down the hallway leading to the cavernous room that occupied the entire population of the brutal gang known as the Purple Dragons. The Purple Dragons are big, buff and easy enough to spot with the giant dragon tattoo branding every single ones' skin.   
"Is that suspicious enough for you Don?"  
LINE BREAK  
April squirmed in the suffocating hold of the rope tied around her midsection. The rope that hung her from the walkways barely even shuddered. The girl tried to work her arms free, but no such luck was bestowed.  
Below her April could see the large crowd filled with ugly, stupid punks.  
April sighed and listened to Hun addressing his "people". “Like they could even be classified as people,” she muttered bitterly under her breath.  
"And so, by capturing this girl," Hun said, flinging an arm up to point at April accusingly. "We will draw the turtles here and finally be rid of those green freaks." The crowd screamed its approval and stomped its feet.  
Not one to give up, April scanned the room to find anything that could help her escape. A snatch of green flashed in the corner of her eye and her head snapped around. Her eyes widened and April gasped softly, only just able to contain her surprise at spotting Mikey and Donnie standing in the doorway of the room.  
The boys raised their fingers to their lips, signaling April to keep quiet as they hugged the wall and inched their way around the edge of the room. Mikey and Don stepped along with their backs to the wall until they reached a ladder built to reach the scaffolding April dangled from. They crept up the ladder and ran to April. With Mikey holding on to the rope, Donnie untied the bulky knot. The boys pulled April up and soon enough she was standing next to them on the walkways high above.  
Together they slinked to the ladder and climbed down. Unfortunately, just as they reached the bottom, a Dragon spotted them and screamed, "The turtles are here! I see them! They're rescuing the girl!"  
Not caring about stealth anymore, the turtles and April ran for the door, but were blocked by a sea of thugs. Immediately Donnie, Mikey and April rushed the crowd. Before any of the brutes could recover from the sudden movement the small band of heroes were upon them.  
LINE BREAK  
"April! Go!" Donnie yelled as he took down gang members left and right.   
Finally, after at least half an hour of intense fighting, the girl and turtles made it to the exit. The teens stood in a half circle with their backs to the door, fending off punks.  
"Yeah! We got them!" Mikey said, panting slightly, but still going strong.  
"Is there even a chance of getting you guys to change your minds?" April asked.  
"No!" the boys yelled in unison. April didn't answer; instead she turned for the door, trusting the boys to watch her back. Just as April shut the door into the small ally, she heard a boom come from behind her. Instantaneously, a force pushed her from behind and April catapulted forward to hit the opposite wall. The girl let out a strangled gasp and collapsed to the ground like a Raggedy Ann doll. Unmoving.  
LINE BREAK  
Even after the few seconds of April being gone, Mikey and Donnie were already feeling the stress of one less fighter.  
"Please be okay," Donnie silently hoped.  
There was bout of shouting and an object about the size of a baseball was thrown at the boys. It rolled along the floor, almost innocently, until it exploded and everything went to hell(Tartarus). Anyone or anything within feet of the door was thrown. The turtles crashed into the wall behind them and fell to the floor, unconscious.  
LINE BREAK  
"Where ar’ they?" Raph growled, clenching his fists. "They shoulda bin here by now!" The tough talking turtle was extremely worried about his brothers, though he'll never admit it out loud.  
"Raphael. It's ok. Maybe Mikey and Don are just being slow," Leo tried to reassure his brother. But, deep down they both knew that it was a fruitless hope.  
LINE BREAK  
Hun grunted as he heaved his enormous bulk to his feet.  
"What happened?" he roared to the few Purple Dragons that were standing.  
"I think someone threw a bomb or somethin'," one of the men said, scratching his sparse brown hair.  
"Where are those two turtles?" Hun asked gruffly.  
"We don't know," another of the thugs answered dumbly. Hun shoved the five Dragons to the side and stormed past them, scowling.  
"I'm surrounded by idiots," he grumbled to himself as he searched the room for the orange and purple turtles.  
Quickly, Hun spotted the area of the blast. The walls and floor were blackened with scorch marks for at least ten feet around. But, in the middle of all the black he saw some green.  
"You!" he screamed turning to point a fat finger at the Dragons he left behind. "Make yourselves useful and tie up those turtles! I think I know who would enjoy them."  
LINE BREAK  
"I'm goin’ ta look for them! Wit’ or wit’out you!" Raph screamed in Leo's face, spittle flying from his mouth.  
"How about we try calling them before we start running all over the city?" Leo suggested, wiping the spit from his cheek calmly. He pulled out his shell cell and paused.   
“Donnie already called me. About an hour ago,” Leo said, surprised.  
Raph pulled out his own phone. "Yeah. Me too."  
“I’ll just call him back,” Leo said and held the phone up to his head. He listened to it ring and ring and ring. “Ok, I give up,” Leo muttered. Leo dialed Mikey’s number and attempted to make contact with his younger brothers again, but was met with the same gut wrenching result.  
"Dats not good. We gotta go find ‘em!" yelled Raph as he started to run in the direction Mikey and Donnie had gone those long, long hours ago.  
LINE BREAK  
Shredder was lounged on his throne thinking up ways to finally defeat Hamato Splinter when he heard a knock on the door.  
"Enter!" he commanded in a dark voice. Hun pulled the door open and walked into the room, his head bowed.  
"Yes Hun?" Shredder asked, annoyed at being interrupted.  
"Master Shredder! I think I have something you would want," Hun said, boldly raising his head to look his master in the face.  
"What is this thing?" Shredder asked, a bit more interested this time around.  
"Actually two things," Hun said with an evil glint in his eyes. He turned and shouted at the partially open door. "Boys! Bring 'em in!" Four Purple Dragons came into sight struggling under the weight of two motionless green lumps.  
"Well, well... It appears you do have something I want," Shredder purred.  
"So, about my reward-"  
"What reward?" Shredder stopped Hun with a leering sneer. "You will get no payment. Be lucky you're leaving with your life for your impertinence! Now go!"  
Shocked and slightly afraid at the outburst, Hun and his henchmen scurried out the door, leaving the orange and purple masked turtles slumped on the floor. Shredder chuckled darkly and rubbed his hands together.  
"Finally."  
LINE BREAK  
"Let's check the warehouses first!" Leo yelled over the rush of the wind as he and his brother sprinted across the rooftops.  
After a while the two turtles reached a hill overlooking the harbor area.  
"Look for anyth-"  
Leo was interrupted by Raph shouting.  
"What da shell happened der?" He pointed a finger at what appeared to be giant scorch marks covering part of a warehouse.  
Before Leo could say a word, Raph was off and running towards the huge black marks. Leo sighed and ran after his hot headed brother.  
LINE BREAK  
Raph reached the site first. He stood there in awe, thinking of what possibly could have happened.  
"I bet ya Donnie and Mikey were here," Raph said as he sensed Leo stopping beside him. Leo said nothing and studied the scene. Right away he noticed some red coloring on the walls near the ground. It took less than a second for the leader to realize it was blood and it took even less for him to start running towards the area.  
"Wha- What's he doin''?" Raph wondered out loud before he followed his brother.  
Leo gasped. Lying in the middle of an everblossoming rose of blood was the very person that had started this entire horror story. April. The redhead was a deathly pale and her eyes were shut. The only movement was her chest, moving up and down shallowly.  
"April!" Leo shouted and rushed towards the girl. He gently picked her up in his arms and she moaned. She murmured something intelligible and her head lolled, dripping blood. "April. April." Slowly, but surely April's eyelids rose and unveiled cloudy green eyes.  
"Leo?" She croaked.  
"Yes. I'm here. Don't worry." Leo cooed softly to the injured human.  
April launched into a violent coughing fit and Raph appeared beside Leo to help him support the girl as she coughed. After what seemed like forever, the coughing died down and Leo mopped up the drool that had dribbled down April's chin.  
"Who did this to you?" He asked narrowing his eyes, a half baked revenge plan already formed in his head.  
"I,” she paused. “I don't remember."


	2. Chapter 2

April's last reserves of energy dried. Her eyes closed and she fell limp in Leo's arms.  
"We gotta get her back to da lair!" Raph said, tugging April from Leo's arms and running towards the streets.  
"Raphael! Get back here!" Leo shouted and sprinted after his brother.  
LINE BREAK  
"Masta' Splinta'!" Raph hollered bursting into the lair. "April's hurt!" Called by his son, the rat immediately came running into the room.  
"My son! What has happened? Where are your brothers?" he asked in one breath, taking in the scene. Coming in to see one of his eldest sons covered in blood cradling their only human friend was a truly heart stopping sight. Raph carefully lowered April to their couch as he tried to explain all that occurred.  
"Explosion - April - Donnie Mikey g-gone," he sputtered, swaying slightly from exhaustion and putting a hand to his forehead.   
Splinter's blood ran cold and his heart clenched, but he managed to keep it together for the only son he had at the moment.  
Leo suddenly burst into the room himself. He let out a long breath and collapsed on the couch, cradling his head in his hands.   
"You two should get some sleep," Splinter suggested gently. He turned to look at Raph. "Do not worry about April. I shall tend to her while you two get some sleep. Tomorrow you can look for your brothers."  
"But-," Raph protested, not moving an inch.  
"Go," their father barked snapping his tail like a whip.  
Raph growled, but conceded and patted April gently on the head before stumbling from the room.  
Splinter looked to his eldest son and put his hand on his shoulder. “You should sleep too.”  
Leo didn’t bother answering. He only raised his head from his hands and gave his father a tortured look.  
“Sleep,” Splinter said firmly.  
Leo raised himself to his feet and left the room, much like a drunk, all fumbling legs and confused arms.  
Thankfully, neither turtle dreamed that night. Although, if they did, it would surely be filled with lost brothers and missed chances as well as the echoing question. Where are they?  
LINE BREAK  
The next morning Leo trudged into the kitchen to find Master Splinter sitting at the kitchen table drinking his breakfast tea. The blue banded turtle had dark rings under his eyes and his posture was all wrong. Usually, it was immaculate, like he had wire in his back instead of a spine. But, it looked like that wire had finally snapped.  
Leo sat across from his father, guilt shinning in his eyes. Sighing, the rat set his warm mug down and looked at his son.  
“My son, it was not your fault.”  
“But,” Leo protested. “If I had just picked up my shell cell when Donatello called me, if I had been a better leader, if we had gotten there earlier, if-“  
Splinter interrupted Leo. “I am growing tired of these ifs. They do nothing to find your brothers or to change the past. What happens happens. There are no ifs.”  
Leo sighed and opened his mouth, but his words were punctured Raph slumping into the kitchen, looing no better than Leo.  
“Mornin’,” Raph said wearily as he set about brewing a pot of coffee. “How’s April?”  
"April is fine. She is resting now, but you two can go visit her later after you search for your brothers.   
“I would help, of course, but I must stay behind to care for our friend. I know I can trust you both to search thoroughly." He looked at his remaining sons, trying to believe the remaining two were just sleeping in. The ninja master stood and strode form the room before he could break down.  
Raph sat down in the spot his father had just vacated and took a mouthful of coffee.  
"Where we goin’ first?" he asked, gulping down the steamy liquid.  
Leo gathered his thoughts and let out a weary sigh before replying. "Let's start at the only place we know they were, the warehouses."  
LINE BREAK  
The brothers reached the crest of the hill at the same time, the scene disturbingly familiar to the nightmare from last night. The light of day did nothing at all to brighten the area or the memory. Leo and Raph knew they took a huge risk going topside during the day, but they weren't exactly thinking rationally.  
As one the terrapins sprinted down the swell, silent as the wind parting for them like water.  
LINE BREAK  
"There's nothin' here!" Raph grumbled, kicking a piece of charred wood. "We're neva gonna find them at this rate."  
"Have a little faith Raph," Leo said grinning. He held up a piece of fabric that looked familiar although Raph couldn't quite place it.  
"Do you know what this is?" The leader asked waving the cloth in front of his brother's face.  
"No. Care ta tell meh? We're wastin' time here!"  
Leo scowled. "This is a piece of Hun's outfit."  
Raph's eyes widened. "That bastard took our brothas’."  
LINE BREAK  
"We must be stealthy and enter quiet- Raphael! What are you doing?" Leo hissed as his brother marched straight to the air vent leading down into the Purple Dragons’ headquarters. The compound was huge. At first it had been a sneaker factory, but then due to a new rise in sandals, it had shut down. Soon after, Hun moved in and the rest is history.  
Leo rushed over.  
"We can't just go barging in there!" he said harshly.  
"Why not?" Raph growled. "Our family is probably in der and you want ta wait? That's not what I'm doin’."  
Raph turned to rip off the grate, but Leo's voice stopped him in his tracks. "You won't be much use to them if you're dead."  
The hot head looked back. "Dat's a risk I'm willin’ ta take."  
With a grunt Raph tore off the metal grate and dived head first inside.  
Leo pinched the bridge of his snout and jumped after his idiot sibling.  
The wind whistled in Leo's ears, buffering him and drying out his eyes. The ground came up fast, but Leo countered, turning his fall into a flawlessly executed roll.  
Leo jumped to his feet expecting to be attacked immediately. His breath huffed out and he looked around. Not a living thing was in sight. Human or otherwise. There was just a whole lot of boxes.  
"Leo!" The whisper came from a few feet away, making Leo jump despite his years of ninjitsu training. "Leo, come on!" The leader whirled around to see Raph gesturing at him wildly and crouching behind a stack of boxes.  
Not having any clue what was going on, Leo dashed to the other turtle.  
"In der," Raph said, pointing to the other side of the barricade of cardboard and peeking his head over. Leo followed and wasn't surprised to see a few Purple Dragons sitting around a poker table smoking and slurring drunkenly. Of course, sitting at the head of the table, crowning himself as the king of idiots, sat Hun.  
Raph cracked his knuckles and prepared to spring.  
"Wait," Leo said, grabbing Raph's bicep.  
"What now?" Raph whispered, exasperated.  
"We need a plan!"  
"Well, I dunno about you, but I already havea plan. Go out there and bash heads until they tell us where Donnie and Mikey are!"  
Raph ripped his arm out of Leo's hold and leaped over the wall, screaming bloody murder.  
"Seriously, he needs a leash or something," Leo muttered and jumped after Raph once again to find every man excluding Hun knocked out on the floor. Drunks weren't too hard to deal with after all.  
Raph shook Hun, his hand fisted in the human's shirt. "Where are dey?" he shouted, spitting in the man's face.  
"Who?" Hun asked smoothly, raising an eyebrow.  
"Ya know who asshole!" Raph screeched, punching Hun across the cheek.  
"You know, just for that, I'm definitely not telling you," Hun said smugly and spit blood in Raph's face.  
Raph growled and swiped the blood away. "Ya have one more chance Hun!" he threatened.  
"Lucky me."  
The turtle could hold himself in no longer and all he saw was red as he smashed his fist straight into Hun's skull. The man grunted and his eyes rolled up in his head.  
"Good going Raph," Leo said sarcastically. "He can't tell us anything now."  
"He wasn't goin’ ta anyway." Raph stood and wiped the blood off his hand onto Hun's shirt.  
"Let's just search the place."  
LINE BREAK  
Donnie awoke to darkness. Pure black nothingness. He sucked in a breath and his wrists throbbed from where they were chained to the wall above his head.  
"Donnie?" whimpered a pitiful voice from beside him.  
"Mikey?" Donnie whispered, ecstatic to hear he was not alone. "Are you ok?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Mikey sniffed. "You just weren't answering and I was scared."  
"It's ok Mikey," Donnie said, attempting to calm his brother's nerves and feeling bad for being happy Mikey was with him.  
"Oh poor misguided Michelangelo," a sinister voice suddenly called out and light flooded the room. Both Mikey and Donnie hissed, slitting their eyes at the brightness. "It's not ok and it never will be. Ever again."  
Donnie's eyes adjusted and he open his eyes fully.  
"Shredder," he growled.  
"Glad to see you hadn't forgotten me," Shredder chuckled and paced in front of the two turtles he had finally managed to capture.  
Mikey let out a whimper and his restraints rattled from all his quivering.  
"Aw. Is the wittle baby scared?" Shredder cooed, getting in Mikey's face.  
"Leave him alone!" Donnie shouted and struggled.  
"Very well." Shredder stepped back. "But, only because I shall have plenty of fun with both of you later.   
“I can't wait to watch the rest of your pathetic little family fall apart without the babies," he said mockingly.  
Donnie felt an uncharacteristic anger burning within him and he threw his leg out, kicking Shredder especially hard in his unmentionables.  
The man cursed and swiped a claw across Donnie's face, leaving a ribbon of blood in its wake. Donnie winced, but had no other outward reaction. Mikey gasped.  
"You will pay for that turtle," Shredder snarled and stalked away. Just as he reached the door, the lights went out, once again plunging the room into darkness.  
"Bye bye... For now."


	3. Chapter 3

"Der's nothin' here eitha'!" Raph growled and threw the box he was holding at the wall. The thump that came gave Raph absolutely no comfort and he turned to face Leo with a scowl.  
"Patience," Leo said, gritting his teeth. "We found Hun's clothing at the warehouse so we at least know he was involved."  
"Den why aren't dey here, at Purple Dragon headquartas?" Raph shouted, clenching his fists in frustration.  
"Donnie and Mikey aren't here because Hun took them somewhere else."  
"But, where would he take 'em? Hun isn't one ta give up on a chance for revenge."  
"Shredder," Leo said with an unusual rage in his eyes.  
Raph snarled and turned away. Seeing Hun tied up and unconscious along with his cronies gave Raph little satisfaction to quell the anger festering within him.  
LINE BREAK  
Mikey screamed and the tears fells down his face with the never ending flowing of a river. The claws cutting through the skin of his arms burned like nothing else he had ever felt. Even that time he had stepped on a lego!  
Shredder grinned with sadistic glee and watched his enemies pay for all the pain and humiliation they had caused him in the past.  
"Stop!" Donnie shrieked and thrashed in his restraints. "What are you doing to him?" In Donnie's mind, the only thing worse than not being able to help his brother, was not being able to see him at all. The way they were chained made it impossible from either turtle to twist enough to see the other.  
Shredder punched Mikey across the face. The blow surely would have broken the turtle's nose, if he had one. He kept punching and punching until his fists were covered in blood. Mikey's face was almost unrecognizable, it was so beat. Some of the areas had already started to bruise and his face was a grotesque mash of purples and blues. It hurt the youngest turtle to even breathe.  
"Stop it!" Donnie screamed over Mikey's crying and the sound of flesh on flesh. "You're hurting him!"  
Shredder stopped pounding Mikey and walked over to Donnie with a sneer.  
"Am I?" he asked, almost innocently. Shredder ran the tip of his claws along the cut on Donnie's cheek he had made earlier. The blade tore the scab and blood welled up along the shallow gash. "Would you rather I hurt you instead?"  
LINE BREAK  
"We both know Hun will do anything for Shredder because he's so afraid of him. Hun was probably daft enough to think Shredder would give him a reward or something for capturing them," Leo continued.  
Raph snorted. "Hun really is stupid."  
Leo ignored him and kept talking. "The question is where Shredder holding them, now that he has them. He's too smart to keep them in his main building. That's way too obvious."  
"Ya know what dis means right?"  
"What?"  
"We need ta search every buildin' da Foot control. And fast. We need ta save our brothas'." Raph smiled grimly. "This'll be fun."  
"Yeah." Leo sighed and gritted his teeth.  
Raph looked over at his brother appraisingly. "Are ya okay? Ya look a littl' worn."  
Leo shook his head. "I should have been there for them," he muttered, clenching his fists and turning away.  
"Are ya really gonna do dis?"  
Leo spun around, his eyes bright and fierce. "Do what?" he demanded.  
"Dis," Raph paused looking for the right words, "dis "it's all mah fault" shit dat always keeps us from gettin' anythin' done. Besides Donnie and Mikey wouldn't want ya ta do dis to yerself."  
Leo glared at Raph. "Oh, so now you know what Mikey and Donnie want, Raphael?"  
"Dey sure as hell want ta be rescued, I can assure ya of that. Dis blamin' yerself shit is gettin' us nowhere."  
Leo sighed and put his hands over his eyes. "I guess you're right," he mumbled. He didn't see, but rather sensed, Raph grinning at him. "Asshole."  
LINE BREAK  
Shredder swiped his claws across the purple turtle's body and watched happily as the blade left gleaming stripes of the purest red in its wake. Donnie's body shook with restrained screams. He knew he needed to keep it together for his younger brother. Mikey had no idea what was happening and he intended to keep it that way.  
"Is that better?" Shredder asked. "I'm not hurting your brother anymore, am I?" He laughed and stopped cutting Donatello just long enough to motion to a Foot ninja sulking in the shadows. The Foot ninja grabbed a bucket and walked over to his master. He put the bucket at Shredder's feet before bowing and returning to the shadows.  
Shredder smiled and reached into the bucket. He snatched a handful of whatever was in there and held it up to Donnie's bare face.  
"Do you know what this is?"  
Donnie shuddered, but didn't answer.  
"I said, do you know what this is?" Shredder growled, punching Donnie in the jaw.  
"S-salt."  
"Good boy." Shredder chuckled. "Do you know what salt does to open wounds?  
Donatello was shaking so hard he just couldn't find in himself to speak and give this demon what he wanted.  
Shredder looked over at Mikey. "Do you know what salt does to open wounds?"  
Mikey couldn't stop the tears running down his face, much less talk. He choked on a sob and shook his head quickly.  
"Well, if neither of you know, why don't I just show you?"

"We need to go home first." Leo said and crossed his arms.  
"What and waste time?"  
"What use are we runnin' around in da dark if we have no plan?"  
"Plan smaln. What we need is action!" Raph shouted and held up a fist.  
"We have maps of the city at the lair."  
Raph glared at Leo and huffed. "Fine. Jus' get meh away from Purple Dragon headquartas."  
The two eldest brothers ran home with little sound. It was still day and the needed to be very careful.  
Soon enough they were back at the lair with their questioning sensei in front of them.  
"Did you find your brothers?"  
"Not yet, but we're sure Shredder has them so we're going to use maps of the Foot's hideouts to look for them," Leo answered, his hands itching to grab a map and begin planning.  
"Good. Go find your brothers, my sons."  
BREAK  
Mikey's sobs filled the entire pitch black room, as if the boogie man himself was there to scare away all light.  
"D-donnie, I'm scared," Mikey said and whimpered.  
"It's o-okay, Mikey," Donnie said, his trembling voice disagreeing with his pitiful attempt at comfort.  
"Okay?" Mikey nearly shouted. "Did you see what that monster did to you?"  
"Of course, I saw it. I was there," Donnie snapped, his voice suddenly becoming like iron.  
Mikey whimpered again and Donnie could just feel him flinch. He sighed.  
"Listen Mike, we're strong. We're going to get through this. Our brothers will rescue us." I hope.  
"Prom-mise?"  
"Promise," said Donnie firmly. He leaned back and closed his eyes, letting a single tear run down his face.  
He remembered alright. He remembered Shredder grabbing a handful of salt and shoving it in the numerous cuts on Donnie's body. The salt burned like a flame had jumped in the open crevice of Donnie's skin. He had tried to contain his scream, but it tore from his throat as if it was a wild animal. Shredder had laughed cruelly and ground the fistful of salt in the wounds even further. He had repeated the process until Donnie almost blacked out from the pain and the bucket was empty.  
"Don't you wish you could die in this room right now?" Shredder had growled over Donnie's dwindling cries. "Too bad that's not going to happen. I need you to break. You're no good to me if you're dead. Your family needs to watch you die. Under their watch, in your own home. That will break them utterly and completely."  
Donnie fell asleep with the picture of Shredder's mask burned into his mind.  
BREAK  
"We should split up," Raph said as he looked over the smattering of red dots all over the city, each dot marking a Foot hideout. "Dat way we can cova' ground fasta'."  
"We can't split up."  
"Why not?" Raph asked, crossing his arms.  
"We're not much use to Don and Mikey if we get caught," Leo snapped. "And I wouldn't be able to stand losing you too."  
This deflated Raph a bit and he sighed, running a hand across his forehead. "Let's jus' go. The fasta we find 'em, the soona dis horrar will be ova and I can be happy again."  
The eldest turtles slipped into the world once more, out to get their little brothers back.

After what the two turtles could only assume were hours later, Shredder returned. Donnie couldn't help, but to quake as Shredder walked right up to him.  
Shredder laughed. "Don't worry. I don't have anymore salt. Just a little shot."  
Mikey whimpered.  
Shredder took a syringe from his pocket and jabbed the needle into the soft area between Donnie's head and his shell. He pushed the plunger down and watched in satisfaction while the clear liquid drained into the turtle's skin.  
Donnie waited for the pain to hit, but, strangely enough, nothing happened. Shredder strode over to Mikey and gave him the injection as well. He too, was puzzled at the lack of pain.  
He smiled proudly as the effect started to take over and terrified screams of his prisoners followed him out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

“Ugh,” Raph spat, “dis stinks.” Hanging around in the rafters of a hot, dirty Foot training facility is not exactly the best way to spend your night

“What are you speaking of specifically? The general situation or the smell? Because, your doubtful common sense should have told you that dojos tend to smell a bit,” Leo said, quietly snarking at his younger brother.

Raph ran a hand over his eyes, feeling the rough fabric of his mask rub comfortingly across his skin. He wobbled a bit and the hand shot down to join its twin clutching at the thick wooden beam. “Now I understand why Masta’ Splinta’ is such a neat freak.”

Leo snorted and shook his head. “Only you… only you,” he muttered under his breath. Raph let out a huffy laugh, but didn’t retort. 

After a moment of silence, save the grunts of pubescent Foot trainees, Raph spoke. “Leo… what are we going to do?” he asked, his voice choked and it wasn’t from all the dust.

His blue banded brother sighed and tugged on his own bandana tails. “Honestly? I haven’t a clue.” And he had never felt more defeated in his entire life.

LINE BREAK

It was dark and he was cold. Pure blackness wasn’t exactly the most comforting thing, after all. It really didn’t help the fire searing across his brain either. If anything, it only intensified the pain.

LINE BREAK

Raph wrinkled his beak and took a breath of the musky night air. “Neva’ thought dat I’d miss New York pollution. Anythin’ is betta’ than dat hell hole.”

Leo sucked in a deep breath too and let it out slowly. It had been three days since the fateful night his baby brothers had gone missing and it was wearing hard on both him and Raph. It was always hard to tell with Raph, but Leo could easily see the rings that drooped even below his mask and the unnumbered cups of coffee used to ward off sleep. 

Leo, of course, wasn’t much better himself, but he couldn’t help worrying about his red banded brother. Leo tried to ignore the pang in his heart that came with every unbidden thought of his lost little brothers. It didn’t do to dwell on his feelings. They had to find their brothers.

LINE BREAK

The raging fire in his brain was quenched after what felt like an eternity in hell. The soothing water raced across his mind, pushing away every single thought. But, soon, the calming rivers turned to a flood and he was overwhelmed, the panic flooding him just as much as the water.

LINE BREAK

The alley next to the dojo was deserted and the bite of winter did nothing to help the atmosphere. 

Raph rubbed his hands together and breathed on them. “Where ta next, bro?” he asked, unknowingly quoting his youngest brother from that mission gone wrong.

“Raph… we’ve been looking all night for two days straight. I think we need a break.”

Raph whirled on him, eyes burning. “I know ya didn’t jus’ say dat.”

“Raphael,” Leo snapped. “I’m just a giving a suggestion.”

“Well, ya can jus’ put dat suggestion up yer ass. Now where is da next place?”

Leo sighed and pulled out the map. “23rd street.”

LINE BREAK

He could feel the metaphorical waters draining, bringing with them something important. Yes. Important. If only he could remember what it was. How disappointing.

LINE BREAK

“Raph. I’m not even sure this counts as a possibility. This building is too small to even be a reasonably sized clothing store.”

His brother growled and gritted his teeth. “Dere could be a basemen’ or somethin’ where de’re hidin’ ‘em.”

Leo sighed. “Raph-“

He was cut off by Raph’s angry voice. “Stop it wit’ da sighin’! Ain’t a fucking chore we’re doin’ ‘ere! Our brothas are missin’. Our. Little. Brothas. Or did ya forgit, fearless?” He spat the name, glaring at his brother in disgust.

“Of course I didn’t forget!” Leo nearly shouted, his frustration boiling over. “I’m just being practical! We would be able to find them much faster without all your constant complaining and badgering, I’ll tell you that!”

“Why, ya little –“ Raph rugby tackled his brother to the ground and sat on his hips. He threw punch after punch into his defenseless sibling. Leo let out a primal scream and ripped Raph off of him. Leo flew on top of his body. This time it was Leo doing the pummeling. He let out his anger from the last two days, laying assault after assault after assault upon his brother, the aforementioned brother trying everything in his power to throw the other turtle. Raph screamed, blood filling his mouth and he scratched at Leo’s thighs desperately. The sight of bright blood on green skin broke Leo from his angry haze and he fell off of his brother.

Raph stayed where he was, gasping for oxygen. The rusty taste of blood made him gag and he turned to spit the ground next to his head. A few minutes past and finally Raph sat up. He wiped a hand across his blood dripping snout and turned to his brother with red eyes. “Where ta next?” he demanded.

LINE BREAK

This time, the water splashing him was not metaphorical. It was very real and very cold. Donatello opened his eyes with a gasp. He immediately regretted it as the fire made a comeback. Donnie closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. 

“Open your eyes turtle, I know you’re awake. No use pretending,” a voice growled somewhere off to his side.

Donnie opened his eyes and looked around, confused. Shredder grinned at him, unseen mouth full of fire and nonexistent heart full of ice. 

Before Donnie could utter a word, a claw came at him full force. The sharp spikes left gleaming trails of red across his face and Donnie whimpered at the sting. His eyes burned and for some unknown reason, he reached a hand out hesitantly, feeling along the wall. He groped for something, anything until he came upon a freezing shell. Donnie’s hand recoiled and Shredder laughed.

“Afraid to touch your own brother, you should be ashamed.” Shredder tsked. 

He reached above Donnie’s head for something unseen and moment later Donnie was slumped on the floor, groaning. The lacerations on his wrists should’ve hurt like death, but all Donnie could feel was pins and needles running up and down each arm as the blood rushed back. 

He heard an identical groan from where the other turtle had been and Donnie turned, his head spinning. It was incredibly hard, but Donnie managed to wiggle and squirm over the other turtle. He ignored the pain in his body and tried to curl up into the slightly warm plastron of the sleeping terrapin.

“Aw, how touching,” Shredder sarcastically cooed. He raised his foot and stomped on the soft part of Donnie’s shell where the back meets the front. A sharp cry of pain from Donnie was all it took for Mikey to snap his eyes open. His mouth dropped a bit and he pulled his brother closer to him.

Shredder laughed and kicked Mikey in the head, drawing a cry from the teen. Donnie’s glare would’ve made any sane man cower, but Shredder was anything but sane. He just shrugged a bit and gave Donnie a kick to the head too. Donnie’s head snapped back and cracked against the wall. He tried to keep it in, but a small groan escaped his mouth.

Shredder smiled and turned to look at the shadows behind his back. “Men,” he called into the darkness, “bring me my supplies.” He eyes glittered with malice and Donnie and Mikey snuggled closer together, whimpering.

LINE BREAK

Leo sighed. Raph glared. “Not again wit’ da sighin’.”

“Raph… this is the last place on the map,” Leo said meekly, a frown marring his features.

Raph staggered to his feet and wiped away a fresh round of blood from his snout. “Yer… yer,” he swayed on his feet, “yer lyin’.” Raph clenched his fists, knowing full well Leo would never lie about something like this.

“Please Raph. Not… not now. Let’s just get out of the street. We’re bound to get seen out in the open like this.” Leo grabbed his brother’s arm with a gentle hand and led him into the secretive shadows of an alleyway.

LINE BREAK

Agony burst through Mikey’s body with every curve, every line. Tears ran down his face like rivers as Shredder carved into his arm. 

The B was especially painful, the curves jagged with torn skin.

R was more curving torture.

O was just a circle of pain.

K was dug in deep, meeting bone.

E met K down there. 

N was made with special slashing relish, adding a small swirl at the end. 

Shredder leaned back to look at his handiwork. He pushed a finger in the K and Mikey howled, straining his admittedly impressive vocal cords. Donnie sobbed and his chest hurt with the force of it. He shook and curled his body around the bottom half of his brother, the top being held up by Shredder. 

“My, my, how broken you are.”

LINE BREAK

Leo let go of Raph the moment they were safe within the alley. He slid down the wall and put his head in his hands. 

Raph fell next to his eldest brother. They sat in ugly, truthful silence. Both teens could do nothing, but stare at the wall in zombie like fashions. The pain and grief held their hearts like a vice. Leo just could feel his heart breaking more and more with every aching beat.

They were so wrapped up in their funeral shrouds that they didn’t notice the shadows creeping across the rooftops.

“Master says we gotta attack these turtles too,” one man in black whispered to his partner.

The other man didn’t answer, but a shark grin wormed its way onto his mouth. 

As clumsy as they can sometimes be, the Foot ninja dropped to the ground almost silently. Any normal person would’ve missed the soft pad of feet on concrete, but it was close to screaming for the two highly skilled ninja. Leo and Raph snapped up their heads at the same moment and shared a concerned glance. Anyone watching at the entrance to that alley could’ve blinked and they would’ve missed what happened next. In an instant, the turtles were on their feet and the Foot was surrounding them.


	5. Chapter 5

The glossy photograph gleamed and shimmered in the light, seemingly innocent. The hand that held it was slightly less innocent. Okay - a lot less. Shredder grinned and waved the photo in front of Donnie and Mikey’s faces. Encased forever within the photo were two turtles. Two turtles grinning and putting an arm around each other’s shoulders. Another three fingered hand reached in from the edge of the picture to rest on a shoulder, but it was cut off along the wrist.

Donnie almost gasped, but he bit his tongue at the last moment. The two turtles in the photograph almost looked like Mikey (and maybe himself, but he wasn’t exactly sure what he looked like). But, there was something off with these new turtles. They looked almost… happy. If there ever was such a thing. Donnie searched his mind, but he couldn’t recall a time he had ever been happy. Then again, he couldn’t remember anything beyond this awful, dark room. Was there truly anything outside these cloaked walls?

Seeing that Mikey and Donnie had gotten an adequate eyeful, Shredder spoke. “See the turtles in this picture? They may look like you, but they are truly evil. If you think I am horrible, you don’t want to meet these guys. They are merciless savages compared to I. Believe me, you. Don’t. Want. To. Meet. These. Turtles.” He punctuated each word with a sharp kick to the kneeling turtles at his feet. He smiled “I’m just doing you a favor, by the way. Warning you about these guys and all. Whenever you see these faces, you should expect pain.”

PAGE BREAK

Raph grinned, his tongue washing over his teeth. “I’ve bin more den ready fer a good fight.” He ran his hands lovingly over the handle of the sai in his belt. He fisted his hand and yanked his weapons from their sheath.

Leo narrowed his eyes and spoke without looking at his brother. “Be careful now Raphael. No going crazy.”

Raph clenched his fingers tighter on the leather handle of his sai. “Dun’t pretend dat ya dun’t have sum anger ya need ta git out.”

“No going too crazy,” Leo amended. He pulled his blades from their own sheath with a barely a whisper of wind. “Let’s do this.”

He leaped at the nearest ninja with all the fluidity of a lion in the hunt. Raph charged, more like a rhino, but it was all the same in the end. Both Foot fell silently, killed so quickly and without mercy that they weren’t able to get out even a single syllable before they met their end. The other eight Foot were ridged in what seemed like shock. They were exactly used to the turtles killing quite so swiftly. They usually just wounded, but not tonight. Tonight they were angry and they were out for blood.

Raph grinned, his teeth gleaming, and easily slid one of his sai into the nearest Foot’s eye. The man screamed and fell to the ground convulsing and clutching at his eye. Red ran out from between his fingers.

Raph twirled his sai and grunted, “Who’s next?”

Five of the Foot looked at each other, knees wobbling and hands shaking. In unison, they nodded and were off.

Leo smiled grimly, glad he didn’t have to kill them. He looked at the two remaining ninja. Their backs were ramrod straight and their chins were high, trying not to look scared.

The blue masked ninja sighed and shook his head. He walked up to the nearest ninja and very carefully slashed his neck. Or at least he tried to. The ninja he had tried to kill danced away from him and tossed his head like a frightened colt.

“Leave these ones,” he shouted to his comrade, voice trembling, “We already got two anyway. Master won’t be that upset. He’s really enjoying torturing them.”

Raphael roared, a sound of pure agony and teeth gritting, men killing, war starting anger. He tossed a sai into the ninja that had yet to speak and stomped up to the ninja that had yelled. He grabbed him by his head and lifted him off his feet.

“Whaddid ya just say?”

The man smirked, knowing he had found a chink in the turtle’s armor. 

PAGE BREAK

Donnie could only twitch in pain as his head was banged into the concrete wall the picture was taped to. The skin above his eye spilt and his blood ran across the faces in rivulets, marring the happy scene.

Mikey moaned softly, every jerk of his brother’s body jarring his own where they were tangled together. The harsh cold of the floor seeped into his bones and made the blood running from his body feel that much hotter.

PAGE BREAK

“I said that your brothers broke a lot easier than Master Shredder was expecting.” He grinned, teeth gleaming in the half light. “Once the salt was brought in they were a bit more… compliant.” He laughed as well as he could hanging only by his head.

Raph narrowed his eyes and shook the man, making him swing side to side like a pendulum. “What do ya know?”

“I’m not telling you anything.”

Leo appeared, a shadow by his brother’s side.

“We’ll make you then,” Leo said, his voice hard and bit out, like steel against steel.

“Luks like we got ourselves’sa prisona’,” Raph rumbled. He gripped the man tighter. “I’m gonna enjoy dis.”

BREAK

Shredder was kicking Mikey in the head when a Foot ninja came hurrying into the room with his head bowed and shoulders slumped. The man dragged a wooden crate about the size of a fully grown German Sheppard. Neither turtle could tell what was inside, but the mere appearance of an unknown object had fear curling in their stomachs.

“Good,” Shredder purred, taking the box from the man. The man vanished and Shredder took a step closer to the turtles cowering on the floor. He reached into the box and pulled out the picture, except this picture wasn’t just a piece of paper. No, it had been upgraded, if you can call it that. There was a piece of glass tapped to the back of the picture with jagged teeth coming out about an inch from the edge. Donnie could do nothing more than clamp his eyes shut and curl up even further into a ball as Mikey whimpered. The picture fell back into the box with an almost musical chime. Shredder grinned behind his mask and tipped the box. Screams filled the space.

BREAK

“I dun’t understan’ why we couldn’t jus’ knock ‘im out,” Raph grumbled, the bound, blindfolded and gagged man thrown over his shoulder. “Woulda bin easier.”

“We can’t have him disoriented or confused, we need him totally aware. You know that,” Leo said, holding the door of the lair open from his brother to step through. “I think April and Master Splinter are sleeping – we have to do this quietly.”

“Gotcha. Where should I put ‘im?”

“Hm… the garage - less chance of any noises,” Leo stopped to raise an eye ridge meaningfully, ”reaching Master Splinter and April.”

A chuckle swished around in Raph’s chest making the man over his shoulder scoff through his gag. Raph shook the ninja. “Quiet you,” he growled lowly. The man groaned, probably from nausea.

Leo held open the door to the garage and Raph stepped inside. Raph pulled a chair from the corner while Leo snagged some rope. They made quick work of tying the man to the chair. Finally, the brothers stepped back after taking the blindfold and gag off of the man.

Leo held them away from his body with disgust. “Great. Now we have to wash the scum out of our belts,” he groaned. Raph barked out a laugh.

“So ya gonna tell us where our brothas are?” Raph spat, leaning forward into the man’s face and whipping off the black head covering. Dark brown hair tumbled loose and pale eyes stared back at Raph.

The man’s flinch was small, but there all the same. “No,” he answered simply.

Raph smacked him across the face and his head jerked to the left. “How about now?”

“Hm,” the man paused, looking up at the ceiling and seeming to think about the question. “Still no.” He smirked.

Raph raised his hand, but Leo beat him to the punch. Literally. The guy’s head snapped back and thin stream of blood ran down into his mouth.

“Think ya so funny, dontcha wise guy?” Raph snarled, grabbing at the man’s face.

“I do try.” The sarcasm was still there, although it was muffed by the blood.

Raph raised his fist again, but Leo grabbed his hand before it could descend. “Don’t sink to their level Raphael. Hurting him will do nothing but make us like him

The man’s face flickered with surprise. The first crack in his mask they’ve seen so far and Leo zoned in on it.

“Make you like me? How can we possibly be similar in any way?” the man sneered.

“Yer right. We’re different. We help people, you hurt people,” Raph said.

Again, the surprise flashed across his face. “You’re lying. Master Shredder says you guys hurt people all the time. That’s why we have to kill you.”

Raph snorted. “Den what reason do ya have for killin all those otha people?”

“Well, they were evil too.”

This time it was Leo who snorted. “Sorry buddy. You’ve got it mixed up. Shredder is evil. We’re not.”

“But… but…” The man floundered for a retort, his eyes flicking between Leo and Raph. “That’s what Master Shredder said.”

“And ya listened?” Raph was in disbelief.

“Well, he is my boss,” the man said defensively.

“Why do ya work for dis guy anyway?” Raph asked, not quite as hostile as before, but his shoulders were still tense.

The man seemed to collect himself. He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. “It pays the bills and puts food on the table for my wife and little girl.”

Raph chuckled darkly and Leo shook his head in wonderment.

“What?” the man demanded.

Leo’s eyes darkened, but he remained silent.

“It’s always about family ain’t it?”

“What do you mean?” The man looked openly confused, his nose scrunched and his brows together.

“Why da hell do ya think we took ya here?”

“Because you’re evil.”

Raph laughed loudly, the sound bouncing around the spacey room. “Nada. We’re doin’ dis for family, just like ya. Yer masta’s got our brothas’.”

“Those turtles… they’re your brothers?”

Raph opened his mouth, but Leo stepped forward.

“Yes. We would really like our baby brothers back and that’s what you’re for. How would you feel if someone took your daughter away from you and you couldn’t do anything about it?”

The man shuddered. He seemed to be debating something in his head before he finally shook it in a conceding jerk. “If I tell you where you’re brothers are, you have to let me go free.”

“Deal,” Leo said quickly. He untied the man, but put the blindfold back on. “Sorry, but we still can’t trust you that much. We’ll take it off when it’s safe.”

The man nodded and they set off.

BREAK

The glass shower seemed endless. White hot streaks of pain lighting every inch of Donnie’s skin.

Shredder grabbed a glass shard off of the top of the pile encasing Donnie and Mikey to inspect it. The edges were smeared with red and Shredder nodded approvingly.

“Perfect,” he rumbled.

BREAK

The man led them down the back passages of New York City. They twisted and turned and looped, but the man seemed to know where he was going. Not once did he hesitate at a crossroads.

After what seemed like hours of running, the man stopped. He pointed down the ally they were in. “This is far as I will take you. Once you round that corner, the watchmen will spot you. You guys aren’t exactly evil, but I’m not willing to die for you. Round that corner. Continue down and take the first left. It’s the second building on the right.”

Raph nodded and Leo shook the man’s hand, green on white. “Thank you,” Leo said.

The man turned and was about to vanish into the shadows when Leo called out.

“Hey!”

The man looked over his shoulder.

“Yes?”

“Try to get away from the Shredder as fast as you possibly can.”

The man smiled sadly, but didn’t answer and disappeared.

Leo and Raph rounded the corner and followed the man’s directions. They came to a dark unassuming building. It looked like an abandoned storage building, no different than the buildings around it.

“Let’s get our brothas back.”

BREAK

A Foot ninja rushed into the room and Shredder dropped the piece of glass he was holding on Mikey’s head. Both turtles had passed out when the box of jagged pictures had been dropped on them, but Mikey still moaned softly. 

“Master! The turtles have been spotted approaching.” The Foot panted out.

Shredder waved a hand. “Let them come. They can have their brothers back. They’re plenty broken anyway.”

The Foot nodded. “Evacuate the building then?”

“Like we were never even here.”

BREAK

Leo and Raph were aching to find their brothers, but they weren’t stupid. They crept to the building, hiding in the shadows.

Leo went ahead to check for guards, but to his surprise there were none. He motioned Raph over. Raph shrugged and they headed inside.

The door opened into an empty hallway, similar to one that could be found under a creepy abandoned asylum. The hallway only had one door leading off of it. 

“I don’t like this. It could be a trap,” Leo whispered.

“We gotta check it out. We dun’t got much ofa choice.”

Leo nodded and they slipped down the hallway to the door. Raph tapped the door and it swung open without a sound.

The room was cavernous and at first glance appeared empty. There were no lights except one, lighting a patch of space directly across from the door. And in that lighted space were two turtles.

Forgetting everything they had learned from birth, Leo and Raph rushed forward towards their brothers, but they stopped short. There was a giant mound of glass surrounding their brothers as if the glass was ice and their brothers were dead fish.

Raph’s jaw dropped, but Leo gathered himself faster. He moved forward and gently dug his baby brothers out, trying not to cut them any more than they already were. He tried not to look at the myriad of mottled yellows and purples and reds covering the skin of his brothers.

Raph shook himself and when he spoke his voice was rough and spotted. “Let’s get dem home.”


	6. Chapter 6

For once Donnie wakes in the light. It’s unnerving. His eyes open and immediately they’re assaulted with bright flares piercing his pupils. Logically, he knows that it’s only because he had been exposed to such little light for so long, but that knowledge didn’t stop his eyes from burning.

“Raphael!” The muffled shout tears through his head and he forces his eyes open. Everything is blurry and swimming, but he still gets a general idea of the shape and size of the room he is in. It’s square, and small enough that if he and Mikey linked arms and stretched out as far as they could with their other hand, they could touch the opposite wall. Mikey.

Donnie whipped his head to the side, neck cracking in protest. He spotted his brother on a cot like bed similar to the one he himself was laying on.

Mikey. The other turtle looked a little better compared to the last time he had been conscious. Mikey’s arms were wrapped in gauze from wrist to elbow. The bruises on his face muddled together like a quilt of yellows, greens, blues and purples. Some of the larger cuts scattered across his body had a red and blue Band-Aid taped along them.

Donnie’s attention was caught by yet another loud noise. A door to his left flew open, almost cracking on the wall behind it, but at the last moment a hand caught the handle. The green hand let the door rest softly. It was soon followed by an equally green head with a blue band across the eyes.

Donnie sucked in breath and his chest tightened. That face was familiar. It was one of the faces in the picture. The turtles that Shredder had warned them about.

Donnie pulled his legs to his chest and scrambled to climb out of the cot. His moments were jerky, his hands were shaking. His head and face ached, but he didn’t stop moving.

The head at the door was joined by another. This one with a red bandana.

Donnie knew if he had anything in his stomach, he would have thrown it up by now in pure terror. He lunged for Mikey and pulled the smaller turtle to his chest. Mikey’s eyes twitched under his lids and he moaned softly, but didn’t wake.

The heads were followed by bodies and soon the new turtles were fully in the room, rushing towards him and Mikey.

Donnie dragged Mikey along the floor, too tired to carry him. He scooted backwards, away from the other turtles, until he was in the corner, tucked between one of the beds and the wall. He pulled Mikey between his legs and curled around his brother, shielding him with his body.

He showed his teeth to the newcomers, just daring them to come any closer. The turtles stopped short and stared at him with wide eyes.

Blue Bandana turned to Red Bandana and whispered something in his ear. Red Bandana nodded before setting a water bottle and a couple of crackers down on the floor and walking swiftly from the room. Blue Bandana did the same.

Donnie let out a relieved breath. They were safe. For now.

BREAK

“Didja see how Donnie was wrapped around Mikey? He was protectin’ ‘im. From us.”

“I know.” Leo sighed and ran a hand across his eyes. “Something isn’t right.”

“Yeah, what ain’t right is that we spent two hours patchin’ up our brothas. And dat was jus’ what we could do.” 

Leo waved a hand. “I know, but did you see the way Donnie looked at us? There was absolutely no recognition in his eyes.” Leo clenched his fists. “He had no idea who we were and he was terrified.”

Raph fell into a chair. “Can ya blame ‘im?”

“Not at all,” Leo said. “But, let’s try one more time. Maybe this time we can bring them their bandanas. Y’know, try to jog their memories.”

Raph nodded and led the way back to the infirmary after pausing to grab some spare masks.

Leo ran to tell Master Splinter what had occurred and warn him away from seeing Mikey and Donnie and scaring them.

BREAK

Donnie swayed with Mikey in his arms. He brushed a hand across his brother’s forehead and murmured soothing nonsense to him. His eyes would try to slip shut every once in a while. He took to pinching himself to stay awake. Falling asleep here, with these turtles running about would spell certain death. Although, it was weird that they didn’t just take their chance while he and Mikey were asleep and defenseless.

Just then, the door was opening again. Blue Bandana came in, followed by Red Bandana. Donnie pinched his arm again and tried to look as alert as possible. Red and Blue weren’t even going to get close to Mikey while Donnie was still breathing.

Curiously enough, Red had two colored strips of cloth balled up in his hands. One was orange and the other was purple. Odd. Maybe they were to be used as weapons? To strangle, maybe.

Blue stopped about five feet from him and crouched down. He started to reach out a hand towards Mikey but stopped when Donnie growled lowly. He figured that was the best way to get his point across.

Blue sent Red an indecipherable look, and Red nodded. He tossed Blue the masks.

“Hey Donnie, remember us? I’m Leo and that’s Raph, we’re your brothers,” Blue, sorry, Leo, said in a low voice, letting the masks drape over his palm.

Donnie almost snorted. “Yeah, sure,” he said, voice cracking and scratchy.

Leo opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a small moan came from Donnie’s lap.

Mikey’s eyes fluttered and he smacked his mouth. His eyes opened to slits. “Water?” he croaked.

Donnie allowed himself a tiny smile and grabbed one of the water bottles he had pulled to his side after Leo and Raph had left. He unscrewed the top and tipped the water into Mikey’s half gaping mouth. Mikey gulped greedily. When the bottle was half empty, Donnie placed the bottle back at his side. Mikey whined and Donnie shushed him by patting his cheek.

“If you drink too much, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Donnie said softly.

Mikey nodded, but still looked disappointed. His eyes were a bit clearer and he looked much more alert. He started to push himself from Donnie’s chest, but froze when he saw Raph and Leo. He turned to face Donnie with undisguised fear written in the wrinkles on his forehead and the downward turn of his lips. Donnie flicked his eyes from Raph and Leo to Mikey. He nodded slowly, almost unnoticeably. Mikey fully sat up and leaned against the wall, leaving his legs tangled with Donnie’s.

“Hey Mikey,” Raph said, rumbling voice trying and not quite failing to be gentle.

Mikey flinched and Donnie stared at Raph in shock. How did he know Mikey’s name?

“How did you know his name?” Donnie asked, piercing Raph with his accusing glare.

“Like Leo said, we’re yer brothas.”

Donnie and Mikey both shook their heads vigorously. Donnie wanted nothing to do with these evil creatures and he was sure Mikey felt the same.

Leo tried to hide his sigh. He kept his voice soft and gentle. “Look, I don’t know what Shredder told you guys, but he was lying. You shouldn’t be afraid of us. We’re your brothers and we love you.”

Donnie scoffed, the sound tearing his throat. “Like you monsters are capable of even a iota of love.”

“Wer not lyin’,” Raph said, voice strained.

Mikey gave a chest rattling laugh. “And we’re supposed to believe you?”

“Well, ya sure as hell shouldn’t believe Shredder,” Raph shot back.

Donnie just rolled his eyes. He tried to keep it in, he knew he was a prisoner, but he just couldn’t understand how dull these guys thought he and Mikey were.

Leo lowered his voice. “Raph, let’s just go. It’ll take a while for them to trust us again. We should just let them get some sleep.”

“We gotta keep tryin’ Leo. We can’t jus’ give up on ‘em.”

“We’re not giving up, just, “Leo paused,” taking a break.”

“Maybe I dun’t wanna take a break.”

Leo sighed. “Raphael.”

Raph opened his mouth, but Donnie spoke before Raph could utter a word.

“You should listen to Leo.”

Raph snapped his head towards Donnie. He took a threatening step forward and growled, “Ya stay outta dis.” His eyes were wild and Donnie shrunk back.

Mikey wrapped an arm around Donnie’s shoulders and glared at Raph. “Don’t you dare touch him.”

Raph huffed out a breath, shaking his head. He stalked from the room and slammed the door behind him, making both Donnie and Mikey flinch. Leo sighed, shooting them an apologetic look before following Raph.

After the door had closed, Donnie felt the tension drain from his body. He smiled wanly at Mikey. “Looks like we’ll survive another day, little brother.”


End file.
